Fitting an electric windlass

[Rustic Charm]

If I could just add one little piece of information as I didn't see it in the replies.

If you are adding a backing plate, especially if your adding a stainless backing plate, make sure you round the edges off and round the corners. Any sharp's will dig in and cause cracking.

You didn't say, but I'm presuming given all the responses you have a plastic boat rather than steel or wood. Mine is a steal boat and I had to make quite a few changes to accommodate my new Muir Electric last year.

And someone else suggested you make sure the 'fall' is long enough. This is really important so I found out after installing mine. I had to go and make a change as the fall was not as recommended, which means the chain get's caught up and I had to keep untangling it. With the correct fall, it's never been a problem.

Muir winches the cable size for the run is more than adequate. But that's Muir. I was tempted to save costs with smaller dia wire and was glad I followed instructions. I actually rang the manafacturers and they said to me that most manafacturers recommend too smaller dia and it's not worth the cost saving.

[SeaSon]

I recently installed a vertical windlass, and would recommend a horizontal instead. The issue I had was aligning the mounting holes from the windlass hardware to the windless motor/gearbox. It is very difficult to drill holes that are perfectly square to both fixed steel units seperated by the 2 or 3 inches through the windlass, deck mount, deck, backing plate, then through to align with the gearbox frame. And there was less than 1/4 inch between the shaft hole (in my case 2 7/8 for the Quick windlass) and the mounting holes, so there is little room for a second try. With a horizontal windlass, you just drill the holes through the deck, mounting and backing plates at the same time - if they are a little out of square it doesnt matter, and the only other holes are for power and chainfall. It all worked out ok, but could have easily screwed it up on a sloping deck.

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by SeaSon

I recently installed a vertical windlass, and would recommend a horizontal instead. The issue I had was aligning the mounting holes from the windlass hardware to the windless motor/gearbox. It is very difficult to drill holes that are perfectly square to both fixed steel units seperated by the 2 or 3 inches through the windlass, deck mount, deck, backing plate, then through to align with the gearbox frame. And there was less than 1/4 inch between the shaft hole (in my case 2 7/8 for the Quick windlass) and the mounting holes, so there is little room for a second try. With a horizontal windlass, you just drill the holes through the deck, mounting and backing plates at the same time - if they are a little out of square it doesnt matter, and the only other holes are for power and chainfall. It all worked out ok, but could have easily screwed it up on a sloping deck.

This might be a brand thing. My Muir only had I think three holes and with the supplied template it fitted perfectly first time.

[jessehunt]

I recently installed a new Lewmar on my Rhodes Pearson 41. The instruction booklet has a template with the cutout for the chain, the bolt holes, and the holes for the electric wires. As mentioned before, a backing plate is important and be sure the gypsy is properly aligned with the anchor roller. I also ordered a wireless remote, which really comes in handy. Good luck with your installation.

[Reefmagnet]

On the subject of wireless remotes.

There's been some threads in the past mentioning the use of those cheap blue coloured wireless remotes available on the likes of Ebay that are primarily designed for four wheel drive winches. These are cheap but are easy to fit to an anchor winch that uses a contactor and are actually very reliable with the simple mod of spraying the PCB's of the fobs with a waterproof sealant.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by SeaSon

I recently installed a vertical windlass, and would recommend a horizontal instead. The issue I had was aligning the mounting holes from the windlass hardware to the windless motor/gearbox. It is very difficult to drill holes that are perfectly square to both fixed steel units seperated by the 2 or 3 inches through the windlass, deck mount, deck, backing plate, then through to align with the gearbox frame. And there was less than 1/4 inch between the shaft hole (in my case 2 7/8 for the Quick windlass) and the mounting holes, so there is little room for a second try. With a horizontal windlass, you just drill the holes through the deck, mounting and backing plates at the same time - if they are a little out of square it doesnt matter, and the only other holes are for power and chainfall. It all worked out ok, but could have easily screwed it up on a sloping deck.

I made drill guides out of off-cuts of planed timber using a drill press that allowed me to drill perpendicular (or even angled, I guess, if need be) holes with ease using a hand drill in the deck when I installed an anchor winch in the past. No problems at all with alignment when done this way. I usually make these guides any time I need to drill accurate holes in the boat, and throw them away afterwards.

[Rhwins]

I just completed the job on my 33' C&C (Balsa core foredeck). I had the deck professionally reinforced with solid fiberglass where the windlass would mount and used large washers on the inside. I will change this and add hardwood as a backing plate.
My Powerwinch came with a paper template to drill the 3 bolt holes and the one electric wire hole for the winch, and for the switch, and the large one for the anchor rode. Wanting to keep the bolt holes as small as possible, it started small and had to enlarge until things lined up. Try securely taping the template down to the deck and drilling through it instead of using it to put spots on the deck.


The switch that came with my windlass doesn't look all that waterproof, get one that is.


My windlass won't handle 8 plate rope I bought for my rode. If you intend to use 8 plate, make sure you buy the correct windlass for it.

[darrelweb]

drpaoletta,
Do you have any more pictures of your windlass install and what you did on the bulkhead?
Your Lewmar, what model is it? Do you still have your bracket pattern?
Nice install.
darrelweb